


Light and Neon

by The_Great_Pumpkin



Series: Land of Issues and Strilondes [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Post-Canon, Sibling Bonding, Wizards, but references are brief, specifically in reference to mom lalonde, this is the lalonde house what do you expect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:01:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25960249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Great_Pumpkin/pseuds/The_Great_Pumpkin
Summary: "The house is quiet and dark, just as you remember it. The one time you tried to visit it alone, you had found it barely standing. Water had seeped into the cracks in the years you had been gone, and had slowly eroded its structure. You could smell the mold in the walls from the entrance; it clung to the walls like leeches to flesh.You asked Dave to rewind it before you brought Roxy over."ORIn an attempt to gain some closure and finally wrap up her character arc, Rose revisits Lalonde Manor with Roxy. She finds that Roxy is both easier and harder to decipher than she initially thought, and that only makes her fonder of her alternate universe mom.
Relationships: Rose Lalonde & Roxy Lalonde
Series: Land of Issues and Strilondes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1836688
Kudos: 14





	Light and Neon

**Author's Note:**

> The second part in this series!! It's a bit shorter than the one focusing on the Striders, largely because it's a little better edited jbsfsdkjgs.

The house is quiet and dark, just as you remember it. The one time you tried to visit it alone, you had found it barely standing. Water had seeped into the cracks in the years you had been gone, and had slowly eroded its structure. You could smell the mold in the walls from the entrance; it clung to the walls like leeches to flesh.

You asked Dave to rewind it before you brought Roxy over.

“Whew! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been back home.” Roxy leans forward and back on her heels once, hands on her hips, like she’s watching someone she knew as a child finally grown up. She starts to wander around the place, her touches curious but deliberate, as if everything in the room is fragile enough to break under the lightest touch or scrutiny. And she is not wrong.

“I can understand the feeling.”

It’s hard not to compare Roxy and your mother when she regards everything with such honest excitement.

Roxy stops in front of the statue of Zazzerpan the Learned. She turns to you slowly, her mouth opened wide in an O shape. “Rosie, don’t tell me I got this statue made??” You feel the corners of your mouth twitch. Roxy, seeing your face, gives you a smile that could overtake your most sincere expression any day.

“Yes, it was my mother. Predictably, I was not nearly as enthusiastic about it as you are now.”

Roxy spins back to face Zazzerpan and nods, a smile still resting on her face. “I’m surprised you could even keep him here in the first place, with how much water there is under the house. What a tough cookie.” She pats the statue’s hand. You note that it’s still in place. “Tbh, I could’ve found a better material, but he looks awesome anyway!”

You give her a hum, walking past the living room. You spot a faded stain on the couch, and tug a pillow to cover it up. When you check back on Roxy, her gaze is still trained on Zazzerpan. “I doubt it was meant to survive long enough for the granite to deteriorate.”

Roxy lets out a small laugh. “I think my mom must’ve felt the same way,” she says, as if she’s not really talking to you. After a moment she laughs again, and the sound is bubbly again. “Not about the statute, though, just in general.”

You wait for her at the bottom of the stairs. When she finally turns away and spots you, she giggles and starts to float. “Race you up the stairs!”

You do _not_ race Roxy up the stairs; you fly up in a manner completely becoming of two young ladies who happen to dabble in pretty competitive activities sometimes. Which is to say, Roxy beats you, but not by much. 

She takes in the portraits lined by the stairs as you pass by them, her gaze filled with that same softness from earlier. She gives you a radiant smile when she sees you watching her. 

“I’ve gotta say, my taste in bearded men’s always been top notch.” She makes an A-okay sign and wiggles her eyebrows. “These are some grade A wizards right here, Rose, and they’ve been hiding right under our noses this whole time.”

You give her a small smile in return. “Although a big much at times, my mother’s taste in wizard paraphernalia remains unparalleled, and her zeal undefeated. The only room that  has been yet untouched is my own.”

“Ooo, can we go check it out? Now I really wanna see how you’ve decorated it!” She pivots around to face you fully, grabbing your hand and staring right into you with her signature pink eyes. Her bangs have been brushed away from her face.

You had refused to let your mother into your room if you could help it. It’s too late to rectify that now, but maybe it’s not too late for Roxy. 

You lead her to your room and open the door. You lean against the doorframe, allowing Roxy to go in first. She takes the chance, skipping straight to the bed and plopping down on it with an “oomf!”, arms spread out like a pink starfish on your dark covers. 

You try very hard not to smile.

Roxy sits up and leans back on her hands, eyes scanning the mess that is your room. “It’s a nice house n all,” she says, conversationally. “But it’s always been pretty lonely.”

“Yes,” you say simply. It’s too soon, you suppose, to explain what about the house made it lonely for you in the first place, but you’ll get there. Eventually. You suspect Roxy has an idea of it anyway.

“It’s still kinda sad leaving it behind after so long though,” she adds when neither of you continues the conversation.

The problem is, you do want to leave it behind. You want to leave behind this reminder of your failure. Once this place’s purpose is accomplished, you’re not turning back.

For now, you decide to just settle on a chair. Half-finished knitting projects lay strewn around your feet, and you nudge them to the side. You assume the standard thinking position, elbows resting on your knees and fingers steepled over your mouth. 

In terms of gaining closure, this is quite underwhelming.

You take a moment to sneak a glance at Roxy, but you find her eyes already trained on you.

“Hey.” She gives you a little wave, just the tips of her fingertips raised in greeting. Her legs swing back and forth, tapping against the bedframe almost inaudibly.

Eyebrow raised, you reciprocate the wave. Roxy pulls up her legs, crossing them so she can rest her elbows there.

“Sooo, I was thinking. It still doesn’t feel right leaving without saying a proper good-bye, right? Even with all the stuff that’s happened here, I wanna send this place off properly. Or, I guess maybe _be_ sent off? I dunno really.” She leans back on her hands, tentatively, watching with her head tilted, as if in wait.

“It seems like you already have something in mind.”

Roxy brightens up again. “Mm, yeah. Since we’re not coming back here again, I thought we’d spend some time doing things we didn’t get a chance to? Like, specifically mom things, if you catch my drift here.”

The first thing that comes to mind is your discussion on the lily pad, where you made a promise to read your alpha self’s published books together. Inwardly, you cringe, because as much as you care about Roxy, unearthing juvenile ideas from your wizard manuscripts is not something you’re ready to do just yet.

“Yes, I understand. What do you wish to recreate specifically?” You are ready to redirect the flow of the conversation to avoid any mention of reading wizard novels.

R oxy idly taps a finger on her chin,  nibbling on the inside of her lip. “Back in the Medium, we used to have a ton of tea parties. Usually it was just me, Janey, and  dear sweet  Fefeta.”  She pauses, mouth tugged downwards somewhat, in what is literally a real life representation of the :( face. “ I’ve always wanted to have a super adult party with my mom, just us drinking all prim and proper.” She sticks out her pinkie finger and wiggles it, the rest of her fingers pressed together as if clutching a the handle of a teacup. 

A  tea party. You can definitely handle that. “Then it shall be done.” 

Roxy jumps up from the bed. “Awesome! Let’s get all the wizards from around this place too! Not like we’ll ever see them again, so I wanna go out with a bang!”

You hold the tea party in the living room, lopsided wizard portraits propped up against the couch, obscuring it almost entirely.  The walls are empty now, leaving lighter shapes in their wake. The Zazzerpan statue was too big to haul over,  so it  just  watches over you,  party hat  plopped onto its head  and confetti draped around its robes like  a decorated Christmas tree.

I nstead of tea, you’re drinking some juice you had in the fridge.

All things considered, it’s not the worst tea party you’ve ever attended.  Especially when Roxy looks so happy. 

“Cheers!” She offers you her cup of juice, and you clink yours against it.

“Cheers,” you agree. You sip at your juice, leaning back into your armchair. Roxy continues talking, somehow even more animated than before, and you let her. You still think of your mother; the heavy, unsteady footsteps on the stairs, your games of pseudo passive-aggressiveness. But there is another path in front of you now, and this time you’ll do anything to keep to it.


End file.
